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The Path for Growing Together BUY KOREA 2011
With the dawning of the New Year, global buyers from emerging markets are turning to Korean products to supply ever-rising demand in their home countries.
On January 11, KOTRA held “BUY KOREA 2011,” Korea’s largest export meeting and consultation event, with buyers from 1,041
companies showing great interest in Korean mid- and up-market consumer goods, as well as infrastructure products such
as power generation equipment and machine components. Recent interest in Korean products in this area is widely
attributed to the rapid rise of emerging markets such as China, India, the Middle East and Africa which led to a
boom in the demand for infrastructure and consumer goods.
This year’s event, the largest in its history, featured foreign buyers from 1,041 companies from 70 countries around the world.
Representatives from 691 companies attended the event in person, while 350 companies took part online. Despite concerns
over the Yeongpyeong island incident late last year that heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula, the success of the
KOTRA event reaffirmed the confidence that international buyers have in Korea and in the Korean economy. Over 2,700
Korean companies also took part in the event, accounting for a total of 4,750 consultation meetings and over $1.2 billion in export negotiations.
Throngs of buyers from emerging markets visit Korea, demand for Korean goods and materials heats up This year’s event
was remarkable for the large number of buyers visiting from China, the Middle East, Africa, India and other emerging markets.
Over 480 companies, or 69% of the 691 companies who sent representatives to the event, came from emerging markets.
In addition, 54% of buyers from the 261 global buyers with sales of over $100 million, or 140 buyers, were from these regions,
including Haier, China’s largest whiteware appliance company; Dongfang Electric, China’s largest generator manufacturer;
Mahindra & Mahindra, India’s largest SUV maker; and Essar Power, India’s second-largest privately-owned power generator.
In addition, 114 buyers from the Middle East and Africa visited the show, a 200% increase from last year’s event.
First, in a reversal of previous trends, global distribution companies in emerging markets visited Korea, showing a high level
of interest in Korean consumer items. Riliance, India’s largest distribution company, paid particular attention to Korean
appliances and home goods. Hitao, an Internet shopping mall and a division of Hunan Satellite TV, sent buyers to Korea in search of cosmetics, health products and household goods in order to capitalize on the popularity of “Daejanggeum”, the hit
Korean drama series that was shown on that network. Cosway, a Malaysian dealer of cosmetics and consumer items, sent
three purchasing teams to Korea to look for a wide variety of products for their home market.
Korean automobile components and IT products also proved to be highly popular with buyers from emerging markets. General Motors’ factory in Egypt dispatched its purchasing manager along with representatives from nine local partners to
Korea to directly procure Korean parts and components, and Mahindra & Mahindra carried out active meetings with Korean
suppliers as the company tries to expand its parts sources. China’s Haier, TCL and BOE as well as Arcelik, Turkey’s largest
appliance maker, showed a particularly high level of interest in Korean IT-related products. Wipro, one of India’s top three IT companies, visited Korea in search of a partner for expanding their LED business.
As infrastructure investment continues to expand in emerging markets, a large number of global buyers
involved in large-scale projects also paid visits to Korea. Al-Qahtani Pipe Coating Industries, one of the largest
power-generation equipment companies in Saudi Arabia, visited the event for equipment purchases. Jindal
Power, one of India’s strongest power generators and steelworks, visited the event to procure materials for their
2,640 MW thermal power plant project in Karachi, Pakistan.
Global buyers from emerging markets in distribution, automobile, appliance and electronics, IT, infrastructure
and apparel industries are visiting Korea due to the rising image of Korean goods as premium products among
middle class consumers in emerging markets whose spending powers have been steadily rising thanks to their
strong economies, according to a KOTRA analyst.
In addition, Korea’s competitiveness is being increasingly acknowledged in large-scale infrastructure projects thanks to
Korea’s recent success in winning nuclear power plant contracts.
A total of five MOUs were signed during the event, with buyers from emerging markets, including an MOU between Simulation
Tech Co. and Al Boom Marine, a powerful Kuwaiti shipping agent, for dredgers, tugs and diving support vessels totaling $93
million.
Buyers from advanced nations seek partnerships for green projects, government procurement Buyers from Europe and North America, on the other hand, sought out Korean partners for green projects and government procurement. Buyers from green
industry companies of industrialized nations showed considerable interest in forming strategic partnerships with
Korean companies, as they did last year. Canada’s Cresguard System made an appearance in search of solar cell
sources, while German’s Jahnel-Kestermann looked for a supplier of wind power gearbox components. Celestica,
one of the world’s top 100 electronics component companies, is planning to build a production facility in Ontario,
Canada, while Centennial Co. signed an MOU for over $10 million with S Energy, one of Korea’s top solar power
module companies.
In addition, 15 vendors specializing in supplying the United States government visited the event to purchase
Korean products for the green procurement market, which maintains strict standards for energy efficiency and
environmental friendliness. PSI, an American health IT specialist and a major supplier of the U.S. government,
sought Korean products for the American healthcare IT industry that has experienced explosive growth in recent
years.
Global distribution and retail companies also lined up to talk to Korean suppliers. Tesco of the United
Kingdom, one of the world’s top three retailers, as well as UT Europe, a large Italian retailer and Inditex Group,
Spain’s largest apparel retailer, visited Korea. Ito-Yokado, Japan’s largest discount supermarket chain, expressed
interest in Korean cosmetics and household goods, as part of the company’s efforts to widen the “Hallyu” wave of
Korean cultural expansion abroad.
Held for the first time in 2009 to overcome the shock of the global financial meltdown, Buy Korea has now
become one of Korea’s representative export business events. KOTRA placed the focus on the latest event, the 4th
Buy Korea, on “Global Win-win”, expanding the scope of mutual growth to include not only Korean companies
but global multinationals to form synergic partnerships with global partners. The event included the Global
Mutual Growth Pavilion, which saw the participation of 73 Korean and overseas multinational corporations, as
well as the FTA Nations Hall that included representatives from 10 nations, including the United States and
Germany.
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